Former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki has recommended the Peoples Democratic Party postpone its planned national convention, which is scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Following a meeting with members of the party’s Board of Trustees Reconciliation Committee led by Ambassador Hassan Adamu, who paid him a visit at his Abuja home to get his opinions on reestablishing harmony within the PDP, Saraki issued the call in a statement via his official X account on Wednesday night.
The conference, according to the former governor of Kwara State, was “meaningful and incisive,” with a focus on urgent concerns harming the party’s stability and unity.
He regretted that the upcoming convention had been consumed by political and legal bickering despite the “selfless and arduous efforts” of some party leaders to settle internal conflicts. He said that this did not bode well for Nigeria’s democracy.
Saraki cautioned that the legitimacy of any results from the exercise is seriously threatened by the existence of contradictory court rulings about the convention’s validity.
He said, “As it stands, there is no assurance that the conduct and outcome of the convention will stand. Political matters can hardly be resolved through the courts. The affairs of political parties are best settled amicably with all sides at the table. Legal battles will only continue to cause friction.”
He emphasized that, in his capacity as a responsible leader, he could not endorse any course of action that may jeopardize party members’ ambitions or weaken internal unity.
In order to manage PDP business and rebuild trust among members and potential candidates, Saraki urged the BoT to suggest the immediate creation of a Caretaker Committee.
“My advice to the BoT team is that the only solution available to us now is for the party to set up a Caretaker Committee within the next two days.
“This is the path to true reconciliation and stability of the party. It will also reassure members who wish to contest elections under the PDP platform,” he added.
Saraki stated that proceeding with the Ibadan convention under the current circumstances would only serve to further fuel the present crisis and amount to a waste of effort.
He added, “In the present circumstance, no serious politician with electoral ambition will seek to contest on the platform of the PDP, not knowing whether his or her nomination will be valid or declared null and void.
“It is clear that going ahead with the National Convention in Ibadan on 15-16 November 2025 will only serve to further fuel the present crisis.
“Therefore, going ahead with the Convention as scheduled is a waste of effort. It does not have my support.”
The crisis within the PDP deepened in recent weeks following a series of internal suspensions and counter-suspensions involving key figures.
Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the party’s national secretary, and others were suspended due to alleged anti-party activities, according to the National Working Committee, which is headed by Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum.
The party’s hierarchy became even more divided as Anyanwu’s side quickly denounced the Damagum-led move as unlawful and announced the suspension of the acting chairman and many NWC members.
A plethora of judicial decisions that exacerbated the PDP’s problems prior to its scheduled national conference coincided with these growing tensions.
Citing procedural issues in the run-up to the event, a Federal High Court in Abuja issued an order suspending the party’s national convention.
The party leadership vowed that the Ibadan convention would go forward in spite of this, claiming that the court lacked the authority to halt it.
